Monrovia – The George Weah-led Coalition for Democratic Change (CDC) is becoming a safe haven for government officials accused of corruption on multiple occasions.
Report by Lennart Dodoo – [email protected]
The party, which constitutes reportedly the biggest bloc in the opposition, is largely supposed to be a symbol of hope for an alternative government amid the endless stories of rampant corruption which has plagued the ruling party.
Weah’s party, which was originally Congress for Democratic Change, presumably got bigger when Bong County Senator, Jewel Howard-Taylor, of the former ruling National Patriotic Party (NPP) and indicted former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Alex Tyler, of the Liberia People Democratic Party (LPDP) joined forces in an effort to oust the Unity Party in the October presidential elections.
Many eyebrows were raised over Alex Tyler joining the CDC. The point was why was the CDC embracing a man who was so much entangled in various alleged acts of corruption, facing indictment and ousted as Speaker of the House?
Despite the concerns, the CDC and its standard bearer remained mute and in some instances put up defenses, cardinal of which was Tyler was only indicted and has therefore not been found guilty of the corruption charges yet by a court of competent jurisdiction.
The striking audit report on the Bong County Technical College (BCTC) mentioned Tyler, again, as one of four owners of a firm that illegally received contract for the construction of the BCTC.
Former Speaker Tyler has 7.5 percent shares – a claim he has denied, Bhofal Chamber also of the CDC has admitted having 7.5 percent shares, former Representative Ketehkumuehn Murray also owns 15 percent shares and a Chinese national, LianZhi, who has 70 percent shares.
Senator Jewel Howard Taylor, now a running mate to Weah and Representative George Mulbah both signed and attested to the fraudulent contract.
The audit reported indicated the Bong County awarded the project without any competitive bidding process, without compliance with the Public Procurement law or regulation, without being registered in the Ministry of Public Works database as a recognized, credible construction firm, and without being a properly registered business in Liberia and neither the Liberia Business Registry nor the Liberia Revenue Authority could authenticate the existence of the Liberia-China Investment Group.
However, it was signed by the PMC and attested to by Sen. Taylor.
The contract was originally a contract worth US$4,394,776.97, however, several modifications witnessed by Sen. Taylor brining the amended cost to US$7,604,926.97 though no significant changes were made to the original design.
The contract was due to start November 1, 2010 and end October 31 2011 but has since not been completed due to several issues not clearly articulated by the Project Management Committee, the Legislative Caucus and the contractor.
In Bong County, there are increasing condemnations against Representative George Mulbah – who chairs the county legislative caucus and Sen. Taylor.
Mulbah was once dubbed “The developer,” but is now in turbulent political waters following the latest audit report which involves the BCTC.
People in Bong County have expressed dismay, with many threatening to punish the lawmaker – who’s seeking re-election in the upcoming general elections.
Appearing on state radio ELBC Thursday to exonerate himself, Rep. Mulbah denied the allegations, describing the claims as “manipulated and unsubstantiated”.
In Gbarnga City, there are raging reactions. Students who spoke to FPA on Thursday accused leaders of the county for using the college construction as a cash cow.
However, some of Rep. Mulbah’s supporters have suggested that the accusations are part of a political campaign by the lawmaker’s opponents to blackmail him ahead of the October election.
